"Wei Zhao gave me these. I'm giving them to you now to repair your dantian—that should be enough to settle the matter, shouldn't it, Senior Brother Xue?" Leng Leng was secretly relieved. Thank goodness Wei Zhao had given her that handful of pills back then; otherwise she truly would not have known what to do at a moment like this. If she had simply let Xue Jianfeng press his attack, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

But just as Leng Leng breathed her sigh of relief, Xue Jianfeng suddenly snatched the fifth-grade Great Returning Pill from her hand and bellowed, "Disciples, hear my command! Leng Leng has illicit dealings with an outside enemy and has violated the sect's rules—seize her and lock her up!"

"You!" Leng Leng was simple-hearted and had never imagined the man could be so despicable—snatching the pill and then turning on her to her face!

The other Snow Sword Sect disciples were stunned as well; even they had not expected such a turn. Xue Jianfeng had always been upright and honorable in the past—how had he suddenly become so treacherous and mean?

"What are you standing there for? Why haven't you seized her? Or do you mean to rebel as well?" Xue Jianfeng snarled.

"Yes, sir!" The others had no choice but to steel themselves and surround Leng Leng. Core disciple though she was, her standing was far beneath Xue Jianfeng's, and they had no choice in the matter.

Leng Leng was furious and frantic all at once, yet facing her fellow disciples she could hardly strike out—and she could not afford to, either. If she did, she would only confirm the charge of betraying the sect, and then everything would be over.

"Calm yourself, Senior Brother Xue. I think Junior Sister Leng was merely speaking to the matter at hand and had no intention of opposing you. There is no need for fellow disciples to fall out so bitterly, is there?" Fei Yangsheng said, stepping forward to mediate with a show of courage.

Compared with Xue Jianfeng, the threat Wei Zhao posed to him was far greater. Here was a perfect chance to do Leng Leng a favor, so that even if she were reunited with Wei Zhao in the future, she would not speak ill of him—and he might yet live to see another day.

"Colluding with the sworn enemy of our Snow Sword Sect, and now springing to Wei Zhao's defense at every turn. Is that speaking to the matter at hand? Fei Yangsheng, I haven't yet settled accounts with you for deserting in battle last time, and now you have the nerve to stand up and plead for her?" Xue Jianfeng said, eyeing him with ill intent.

Fei Yangsheng immediately lost his nerve. This was only because Xue Jianfeng did not know the true state of affairs—he assumed that Fei Yangsheng had fled after Wei Zhao crippled his dantian and knocked him unconscious. If he knew that Fei Yangsheng had never fled at all, but had directly become Wei Zhao's inside man, then it would not be only Leng Leng locked up today; Fei Yangsheng would be dragged down with her!

"Why haven't you moved?" Xue Jianfeng glared at the Snow Sword Sect disciples again. This was only because he himself was now a cripple; otherwise he would have struck long ago.

The others hurried to act, when Leng Leng suddenly said, "Hold on. You may be the senior brother, but I am a core disciple as well. You have no authority to lock me up. I want to see my master!"

"This training expedition into the mortal world is under my command—everything is decided by me!" Xue Jianfeng sneered. Seeing the hesitation on the others' faces, he added, "Rest assured, I will only hold you in custody for now. As for how you are to be dealt with in the end, I will petition the sect's higher-ups."

With things said that far, the Snow Sword Sect disciples had little reason to hesitate. They did not wish to be drawn into a quarrel among core disciples, and so they did as Xue Jianfeng ordered and locked Leng Leng up. Though her heart seethed with indignation, she thought of the bonds of fellow discipleship and at last chose not to fight back.

Once Leng Leng was confined, Xue Jianfeng immediately sent word back to the Snow Sword Sect, embellishing the whole affair as he went. In his account he was, without question, the innocent victim, and it had all come about because Leng Leng and Wei Zhao had colluded inside and out, which had brought about the ruin of his dantian. As for his own coercion of Qiu Lingshan and the others, that went entirely unmentioned.

Two days later, word came back from the Snow Sword Sect's higher-ups. Xue Jianfeng was ordered to escort Leng Leng back to the sect for handling, and the qualifications for this expedition into the mortal world were revoked!

The outcome did not surprise Xue Jianfeng in the least, for it was written in his own father's hand. With so great a matter as his son's dantian being crippled, if his father—the Snow Sword Sect's vice sect master—were to swallow his anger, that would have been truly bizarre. Even if Leng Leng was a highly favored core disciple, so what? Was Xue Jianfeng any lesser than Leng Leng?

Xue Jianfeng was the number one Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Antiquity Alliance, and whether or not the title was fully deserved, the very ability to contend for so great a name was itself proof of strength. Not to mention that his father was the Snow Sword Sect's vice sect master, giving him far deeper backing than Leng Leng.

Under such circumstances, even Leng Leng's master could say little; at most she might strive to lighten Leng Leng's punishment. To hope for no punishment at all was impossible—at the very least, that was a hurdle the vice sect master would not let pass.

"You see it clearly now, don't you? This is the decision of the sect's higher-ups. Does anyone object?" Xue Jianfeng brought out the sect's reply and passed it around for all to see.

The others shook their heads one after another. Quite apart from the fact that Leng Leng had always been aloof and on ordinary terms with them; even if one had been close to her, there was no pleading for her now.

The sect came first. Since this was a decision of the sect's higher-ups, every disciple had to carry it out unconditionally.

"I'm not going back!" Leng Leng grew frantic at the sight. Now that she knew where Wei Zhao was, how could she simply return to the Antiquity Minor Jianghu without seeing him once? The Antiquity Passage opened only once in a thousand years; if she were escorted back this time, she might never see Wei Zhao again in her life.

What was more, once the mortal-world training was over, the Antiquity Trial was coming up next, and for the disciples of every sect it was the most crucial trial of all. To miss it would most likely mean letting slip a tremendous stroke of fortune—how could she be escorted back to the Snow Sword Sect for punishment at a time like this!

"Hah, this is a decision of the sect—do you think it's child's play, to say you won't go back and simply stay? Is the Snow Sword Sect yours to run?" Xue Jianfeng sneered and turned to stride off. "I'm going to see Xin Yijie about the arrangements right now. You just wait here obediently to go back and be punished."

"You!" Leng Leng was furious and frantic, yet at this moment she was utterly helpless. Even if she wished to flee, it was impossible—Snow Sword Sect brothers and sisters surrounded her on every side, and with her strength barely at mid Foundation Establishment she could not break out alone. Besides, doing so would only give them grounds to condemn her, and the consequences would be even worse.

Fei Yangsheng watched this scene and frowned. He certainly did not dare release Leng Leng in secret; against a decision of the sect he had no recourse at all. Yet he could not do nothing either—otherwise, if word of it reached Wei Zhao's ears afterward, he would surely be in for a world of trouble. (To be continued.)